Sautina Natalia - an art historian, Branch of the Russian Academy of Arts in Saint-Petersburg Center of scientific institutions of the Academy of Arts , the head of the Photo-Archive

Ex-libris in the 20th century was transformed into a complex cultural phenomenon because of the development of its collectibles from a simple thing, the bibliography tool. Combining the literary component and the visual arts, and compressing the information contained in it to the level of a symbol due to the restriction of the format, the ex-libris becomes a universal cultural code of Western civilization. At the same time, it is understood in the East and adapting to the Eastern artistic tradition. FISAE International ex-libris congresses, being a meeting point for masters of the East and West, create new incentives for the development of the ex-libris.